WILTON – Selectmen voted to give a neighborhood association six months to develop a plan for a town-owned piece of property on School Street Tuesday night, asking to be kept informed of progress.
The old Primary School building, located at 24 School Street, has been the focus of several selectmen meetings, three development plans and the attention of several neighbors. Built in 1949, the building was ceded to the town when then-MSAD 9 moved operations to Academy Hill School. The board of selectmen have been trying to sell the property since 2007, with little success.
Following a presentation of the first proposal, an apartment building, several people in the neighborhood formed the Wilton School Street Neighborhood Association. Now a nonprofit corporation, the group is focused on assisting the town in finding a use for the property and aging facility.
“There is a certain ambiance,” Association Member Tiffany Maiuri told selectmen, speaking of the area. “It’s sort of an old-school neighborhood.”
The association drew as many as 25 residents of the area at a general meeting last month, Maiuri said. The group asked selectmen for six months to devise a plan for the building. Some ideas the group has discussed, Maiuri said, include a community center, space for small businesses or potentially tearing it down.
Selectman Irving Faunce noted that the board had been informed that demolishing the 7,500 square foot school had been estimated at $50,000, including asbestos and lead abatement. Maiuri and other members said that the association would also potentially use the six-month window to begin fundraising.
Additionally, the group’s status as a nonprofit corporation would allow them to apply for state and federal grants to potentially assist either the town in a demolition plan or an interested business looking to develop the school.
“It’s in really good shape,” Selectman Paul Gooch said. “It’d be a crime to tear it down, if there is some use for it.”
“We’re willing to hear from anybody,” Association Member Richard Dupuis said.
Keeping the building in town hands does require roughly $2,000 in expenditures annually, according to Town Manager Rhonda Irish, mostly for electricity and a small maintenance budget. Selectmen were hopeful that a plan would be developed in six months or less, getting the building’s fate settled before next winter.
Selectman Tom Saviello, who made the motion to give the group the six months, asked Maiuri to check in with the board monthly to ensure constant forward progress. He also applauded the residents for taking the initiative with the property.
